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Heartwood Partners banks on onshoring, plus TPG Growth invests in Homrich Berg

Good morning dealmakers, thank goodness it’s Friday.

It’s Obey Martin Manayiti with the US edition of the Wire from the New York newsroom.

As businesses were scrambling to circumvent the snarled global supply chain a few years ago, domestic manufacturing has been on the rise. We are starting with an interview with Heartwood Partners following the recent investment in Royal Products, a company that is banking on increased local demand.

On that topic, we will jump to Kinderhook Industries portfolio company, AWI Holdings, which acquired a warehouse distributor of automotive parts and supplies in the greater Louisville, Kentucky and southern Indiana markets.

Next, we have seen a growing appetite for PE investments in wealth management. TPG Growth is the latest to make a move in this segment with a minority investment in an Atlanta-based wealth management firm.

And finally, we are closing out with a look at a recent Harris Williams report detailing investment opportunities in healthcare education.

Textbook transaction

Heartwood Partners recently made a growth investment in Royal Products, a Hauppauge, New York-based manufacturer and distributor of premium, branded metalworking performance accessories. Demand for Royal Products is on the rise for many reasons, buoyed in part by onshoring, a trend that picked up due to the snarled global supply chain experienced during the pandemic, according to Demetrios Dounis, a managing partner at Heartwood.

Premium subscribers to the Wire have a preview of the interview.

We have seen this theme playing out many times in PE investments. Click here for a roundup of seven manufacturing deals and here you can find a feature detailing why private equity firms have begun to think local when it comes to the supply chain.

Warehouse automation

Demand for warehouse labor during the pandemic opened investment opportunities for warehouse automation. This morning, AWI Holdings, a portfolio company of Kinderhook Industries, announced the acquisition of Moog Louisville Warehouse, a warehouse distributor of automotive parts and supplies in the greater Louisville, Kentucky and southern Indiana markets.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to learn more.

Managing wealth

TPG Growth has made a minority investment in Homrich Berg, an Atlanta-based wealth management firm. Homrich Berg’s existing backer New Mountain Capital will remain an investor.

Premium subscribers to the Wire have access to more.

Healthcare education

Demand for healthcare workers is accelerating. Training, reskilling and upskilling employees is increasingly essential to address industry-wide labor challenges and to support a growing patient population, according to a report from Harris Willaims.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to gain more nuggets from the report.

That’s it for today. You can always reach me at obey.m@pei.group for news tips.

On Monday Craig McGlashan will bring you the Europe edition, and MK Flynn will bring you the US edition.

Have a nice weekend,

Obey

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

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Ares Management has agreed to purchase Walton Street Capital’s Mexican industrial asset-management platform, Walton Street Mexico, which has $2.1 billion in assets under management, from the Chicago-based investment firm for an undisclosed sum, a source familiar with the transaction told PERE Deals.

They said it

“We believe that the underlying demand is driven primarily by automation and onshoring trends as well ordinary course replacement and end-customer new product development. This is an essential product for Royal Products’ ultimate end customer. Royal’s customers care about the speed of product delivery, performance attributes of its products and the quality and consistency of the product.”

— Demetrios Dounis, a managing partner at Heartwood following his firm’s investment in Royal Products.